Latest in a series of posts on the coronavirus

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Gadfly:

Just discovered your site. The bridge spanning Monacacy Creek at Bella Vista Dr (next to Scholls produce stand) is soon to be closed to vehicles. It’s more than 100 years old, and its concrete abutments are in excellent condition. It will make a great addition to the trail system along the creek, as it has been used by bikers and walkers for generations. It needs to be certified as sound for pedestrians. Maybe needs some strengthening. Definitely needs some railings for safety. Possible historical significance as a crossing dating back to George Washington.

Any advice/guidance would be appreciated. Thanks.

Don Miller

Can any followers weigh in on Don’s post?

Marking Presidents’ Day

Alan Lowcher, Esq. concentrates on real estate and land use law, speaks on the life of Abraham Lincoln, presents history-themed “lessons for lawyers” through the NJ Bar Association, and is a member of several associations promoting a deeper understanding of American history.

George Washington – the “Moral” Man

By Alan Y. Lowcher

George Washington – the marble man – “First in War!  First in Peace!  First in the Hearts of his Countrymen!” But he did not start out that way.

Young, ambitious, a man of strong passions, Washington sought recognition and social status which at that time was measured either by wealth or military rank and “glory.”  Washington was not wealthy (until he married Martha) measured by the standard of the Fairfaxes, and in the eyes of the British officer ranks, he was merely a “provincial.”  But he was personally courageous and decisive.  He inspired trust in his leadership ability by keeping a cool head when things went badly, such as at Fort Necessity and Braddock’s ill-fated march on Fort Duquesne very early in his military career during what we know as the French and Indian War. He was under fire in both engagements, and though men around him fell, he was unscathed. Moreover, although both actions were failures, no personal blame fell to Washington. Historian Joseph Ellis, in his Washington biography, His Excellency, wrote that Washington had a sheer knack for survival and found that if he survived, he would succeed.

This character trait would serve him well twenty years later.

The young Washington recognized his “faults” — among them his strong temper and his love of honor and regard that led him to take offense at what he perceived were personal insults, believing himself the “better man” — and developed patterns of behavior rooted in self-control and personal probity that shaped his character. As he matured, he was increasingly viewed as a levelheaded leader in Virginia politics. His election to represent Virginia at the first Continental Congress was his introduction to delegates from the other colonies, particularly the New England contingent led by Massachusetts. It was John Adams who proposed the formation of a Continental Army with George Washington as commander.

But for all this “restraint,” Washington was willing to take risks for a cause that he believed in.  For him and for his brethren “Founding Fathers,” that cause was the American Revolution.

At the War’s end, Washington took his final leave from his fellow officers in 1783 and “retired” from public life to Mt. Vernon. His retirement was short lived. He served as President of the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 and, with the ratification of the Constitution, he answered the call of his country and served as President for two terms, both times elected unanimously by the Electoral College. In public life – during the War and as President – Washington was well aware that history was being made and that he was the one making it. He acutely avoided the appearance of impropriety, for example, refusing a salary as Commander in Chief. In private life, he was also “sensible” about how an action might appear to others, for example, refusing payment in shares of stock in the Potomac Company that proposed to improve navigation of the upper Potomac River (which would have benefited Washington by virtue of his extensive landholdings in what was then the frontier west of the border colonies) for services rendered.

Two blemishes on Washington’s carefully cultivated character were his appetite for land and slave holding  Yet, he alone among his slave holding contemporaries eventually emancipated his slaves through his Last Will and Testament. He was a man of his times, and no one is perfect – not even Washington.

It was altogether fitting and proper that after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, a well-known carte-de-visite memorial card showing George Washington welcoming Lincoln into heaven with a laurel wreath was widely circulated. There is a shaft of light above the Presidents’ heads with angels visible inside. The caption reads: “Apotheosis of Washington & Lincoln.”

Marking Presidents’ Day weekend

Alan Lowcher, Esq. concentrates on real estate and land use law, speaks on the life of Abraham Lincoln, presents history-themed “lessons for lawyers” through the NJ Bar Association, and is a member of several associations promoting a deeper understanding of American history.

Abraham Lincoln and Our “Unfinished Work”

By Alan Y. Lowcher

A few years ago, I was a panelist in “Abraham Lincoln: 15 Captivating Stories from His Law Practice” with Glenn LeBoeuf at the New Jersey Bar Association Continuing Legal Education (CLE) program. In order for the lawyers to get CLE credit, a lawyer needed to be a panelist. I was Glenn’s “second chair” and tied in Glenn’s anecdotes and what Lincoln said about the practice of law (“Notes on a Law Lecture,” variously 1850-1858) to the Rules of Professional Conduct governing the modern practice of law. The room was packed with lawyers, as were the rooms where the program was simulcast. Given the attention paid to the presentation, the questions raised by the audience, and the people who came up to the panelists, it was obvious that the lawyers were there not so much for the credit as they were to hear about Lincoln, especially Lincoln the lawyer. It is natural for lawyers to claim Lincoln for themselves: he was one of us. And yet 25 of the 46 presidents have studied or practiced law. What makes Lincoln the standout?  Why are there hundreds of statues and memorials to Lincoln in this country, as well as in several countries around the world? Why are dozens of new books written about him annually to add to the estimated 16,000 published titles on Lincoln? Why has Lincoln remained so popular?

Historians and Polls

Numerous polls taken over the last 65 years consistently rank Abraham Lincoln in the top three of US Presidents along with George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Most of the polls are conducted among historians who rate the presidents on a number of categories (leadership, accomplishments and crisis management, political skill, character, integrity, etc.).  Lincoln achieved an overall rating of Number One. But it is not just historians. Among those who identify themselves as liberal or conservative, Lincoln again is Number One. John Q. Public, responding to a C-Span presidential leadership survey in 1999 rated Lincoln as Number One, as did surveys conducted by ABC and Washington College. When all the poll results are considered, more than 80% of Americans give a favorable rating to Lincoln. He was surpassed only by George Washington in the hearts and minds of Americans. Lincoln often harkened back the Founders in his writings and speeches. I don’t think he would mind at all taking second place behind George Washington.

Lincoln’s Enduring Popularity, Relevance, and Our “Unfinished Work” 

Writing on the occasion of the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, James McPherson pondered the “Why” question of Lincoln’s enduring popularity and ranking by historians as our greatest president. He posited several answers:

• Lincoln took office facing the greatest crisis of any President: a nation divided and soon to be engaged in a civil war “testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.”  His leadership and single-minded determination to assure the survival of the “experiment” that began in 1776 ensured that that nation would live.
• Lincoln’s essentially military action authorizing the seizure of enemy property — slaves — used in the Confederate war effort, thereby depriving the South of the manpower it needed to sustain the war, brought the power of the Federal government to bear to attack the “monstrous injustice of slavery.”  These efforts, culminating in the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the 13^th Amendment in 1865, assured Lincoln’s place in history.
• Lincoln the “westerner,” who grew up in a log cabin, split rails, piloted a flatboat on the Mississippi, was a store keeper and postmaster, read the law, became a successful trial attorney, one term Congressman and then President, epitomized the uniquely American belief that if you worked hard, you could go as far as your energy, intelligence, and talents could take you. This opportunity for self-improvement was Lincoln’s definition of equality, which is also why, in addition to his moral aversion to the institution, he opposed slavery. Slavery was the antithesis of this definition of “equality.”
• And, of course, Lincoln was a superb craftsman of the written word.  As a lawyer, he wrote concisely and with persuasion. As President, McPherson observed that “Lincoln had the unique ability to write for both the eye and the ear.”

. . . the closing lines of his first inaugural address

. . . the opening lines of the Gettysburg Address

. . . his second inaugural address

McPherson was surely right when he said “[e]ven if his deeds were to be forgotten, his words will live as long as there is a United States.”

• And, finally, Lincoln’s violent death when he should have savored the fruits of victory assured the martyred president immortality.

And, so, we remember Abraham Lincoln on this Presidents’ Day weekend. For us, and for historians, Lincoln matters. He guided the country through the crucible of civil war, and we emerged a stronger, although still not perfect, nation. His leadership skills, determination, ability to compromise, fundamental fairness, and integrity are worthy of study and emulation by today’s politicians and leaders of all stripes. There is something there for “average Americans” too in Lincoln’s words that should inspire us to be “governed by the better angels of our nature.” Lincoln’s birthday, as with the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday, should be a time of reflection on what these men achieved – and imagining what they might have achieved had they lived a full life.

I urge the reader to consider spending a day at Gettysburg, the venue of what is perhaps Lincoln’s greatest speech. Make your way past the Pennsylvania Monument to the monument erected in memory of the officers and soldiers of the First New Jersey Brigade. Consider the following:

“. . . and when the First New Jersey’s Brigade monument was constructed . . . and dedicated . . . on the battlefield of Gettysburg in 1888 . . . in what likeness was the actual monument (the largest brigade monument on the battlefield) constructed ?”

A watch-tower.

A watch tower? Why that? Certainly the war was now long over in 1888 . . . and the veterans gathered there at the dedication . . . fewer in number . . . most in their 40s or 50s . . . had had their fill of war.

Why would they want future generations to gaze upon . . . and ponder . . . a “watch-tower”?

Because it is for “us the living” . . . to man the watch-towers now . . . light the watch fires . . . and to remind . . . instill . . . and teach generations to come of the sacrifices made by so many . . . over such a long time . . . to maintain . . . “a more perfect union.”

Lincoln’s legacy – and their legacy — should inspire each of us to redouble our efforts as Americans to keep history alive and relevant. This is our “unfinished work.”

“We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation, rather than share it.”

Amanda Gorman was an Inauguration sensation with her poem “The Hill We Climb.”

Find information on her below provided by a member of a discussion list to which Gadfly belongs.

Some of his favorite lines in the poem are here. What are yours?

We are striving to forge our union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

“The Hill We Climb”

The following information on Gorman provided by Abdul Alkalimat:

Regular City Council meeting at 7 is still on!
Be there!

“The sky’s the limit”
Councilman Reynolds

Gadfly was steppin’ out last night.

There he is in full COVID beard and fresh t-shirt in the company of (with 40-some others) the likes of Mayor Donchez, President Grigsby, Superintendent Roy, and Representative Samuelson.

Heavy hitters.

What do you suppose the occasion was?

“The sky’s the limit,” Councilman Reynolds said, “especially with the enthusiasm and passion we have here.”

What do you suppose he was talking about?

Gadfly loves to tease.

to be continued . . .

My Bethlehem PA App

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

“ArtsQuest cultural center, other Lehigh Valley redevelopment projects get big financial boost.” WFMZ, December 24, 2020

• ArtsQuest Community Cultural Center II ($3.5 million): Project consists of the construction of a new 80,000-square-foot arts and cultural center at the site of the current Banana Factory Arts Center in Bethlehem
• Goodman Building ($1 million): Alloy5 Architecture will be redeveloping the former Goodman Furniture building into a mix used project
• Boyd Theater Redevelopment II ($250,000): A mixed use redevelopment of the former movie theater into ground floor retail and 120 one and two-bedroom apartments in Bethlehem’s central business district

Latest in a series of posts on Bethlehem history

from Richmond E. Myers, Sketches of Early Bethlehem. Bethlehem: Moravian College Alumni Association, 1981.

———-

We live together on land originally the land of the Lenape people.

My peace I give to you.

Merry Christmas!

My Peace
Words by Woody Guthrie, Music by Arlo Guthrie

My peace my peace is all I’ve got that I can give to you
My peace is all I’ve ever had it’s all I ever knew
I give my peace to green and black to red and white and blue
My peace my peace is all I’ve got that I can give to you

My peace my peace is all I’ve got it’s all I’ve ever known
My peace is worth a thousand times more than anything I own
I pass my peace around and around ‘cross hands of every hue
My peace my peace is all I’ve got that I can give to you

After a night of kumbaya, “My Peace” has been the ol’ hippie’s signature closing.

Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS AND ARTS INSTITUTIONS

Touchstone Theatre

Christmas City Follies XXI

Directed by: Jp Jordan

Performed by: the Touchstone Ensemble and friends

Premiering via YouTube watch party December 20 @7p
and available through January 2, 2021

ref: Councilman Colon: a lot of fear but not a lot of understanding

Jim Friedman was born and raised in Bethlehem but now works in the Philadelphia news media. “I will always be from Bethlehem.”

Gadfly:

When local newsrooms can no longer afford to assign journalists to cover public meetings, this is the outcome. Residents read comments filled with a biased agenda on social media, and believe it, then share it.

Some rely on bloggers and citizen journalists, but the trust factor has disappeared.

Who can you trust anymore?

Can I believe you?

What’s your political affiliation, because that matters in your reporting.

Who owns your company?

How much did your corporation give to the GOP?

What’s your race? Religion? Favorite color? Animal?

It all matters when you can’t trust anyone.

Jim

An issue at the last City Council meeting and in the last series of posts is what Gadfly called the full-court press put on by the Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance to stop City Council from defunding the police. The full-court press included radio, social media, a brochure, conversations, etc. The full-court press stirred a lot of panicky activity that turned out to be unnecessary, though LVGNA saw it as a victory. Jim raises the question of where you get your information these days and how reliable it is. He raises a subject always much on Gadfly’s mind. A lot happened in the City recently, but Gadfly isn’t sure any of it was really covered by the Morning Call. He used to be able to feed off an article by Nicole the morning after a Council meeting. But she’s gone. And — he may be wrong — but Christina Tatu, who took her place on our beat, seems to be absent recently, maybe only temporarily, too. I’ve been looking for articles by her on recent doings. Now maybe Sara at lehighvalleylive is covering us, but for some reason I can’t get into the habit of checking there. But the point is that though newspapers might have their slant, Gadfly is used to trusting them for basic info. But with the new economy in journalism, we aren’t getting that much of that kind of coverage, and people are left with social media like LVGNA’s facebook pages and your ol’ Gadfly. “Who can you trust anymore? Can I believe you?” Gadfly has tried to be a responsible citizen journalist, but “the trust factor has disappeared,” and his name has appeared in the same sentence with “bias” and “unbalanced.” So Gadfly would just like to say that he welcomes a slap upside the head and alternate views in a corrective and constructive mode.

Fig Bethlehem

Click for great local small-business list

Latest in a series of posts on the City Budget

View the Mayor’s 2021 Proposed Budget

Thursday, December 3, 2020

6:00 PM –

Final Budget Meeting

Agenda: This is typically the meeting at which Council entertains amendments to the budget proposed by the Mayor

There are several things cookin’ but nothing to do with the police budget.

DUE TO THE COVID-19 EMERGENCY, TOWN HALL ACCESS IS CURRENTLY RESTRICTED. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE PUBLIC COMMENT, PLEASE FOLLOW THE PHONE COMMENT INSTRUCTIONS BELOW.

 PUBLIC COMMENT PHONE INSTRUCTIONS

REMOTE PUBLIC COMMENT PHONE INSTRUCTIONS. If you would like to speak during the Final Budget Meeting on Thursday, December 3, 2020 Meeting, please sign up per the instructions below or call into the meeting when the Council President announces he will take public comment calls.

If you would like to sign up to speak, email the following information to the Bethlehem City Clerk’s office (cityclerk@bethlehem-pa.gov) no later than 2:00 PM on Thursday, December 3, 2020 (a) name; (b) address; (c) phone number; and (d) topic of comments.

If you are signed up to speak, the City Council President will call you from (610) 997-7963.

After all signed-up speakers talk, the Council President will ask whether anyone else would like to make public comments. If you want to speak at that time, call the Bethlehem City Council public comment phone line at (610) 997-7963.

NOTES

Calls to the public comment phone number will only be accepted during the designated public comment period with a 5 minute time limit.

If you call and the line is busy, please call back when the current speaker is finished.

As soon as your call begins, please turn off all speakers, computer speakers, televisions, or radios. At the start of your call, please state your name and address. A five minute time limit will apply to any public comments.

———-

You can watch the City Council Meeting on the following YouTube channel: City of Bethlehem Council

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRLFG5Y9Ui0jADKaRE1W3xw

Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem

Kimberly Schwartz is a student studying Sociology & Anthropology at Moravian College. She is passionate about criminal justice reform, equal rights, feminism, and climate change. This piece was originally written for a course at Moravian titled Writing as Activism, taught by Dr. Joyce Hinnefeld, in which students are encouraged to consider topics such as mass incarceration, migration, and how to  change the world through writing.

What I Know, Right Now, About Incarceration in The United States:
A History of Learning Through Experiences and Exposure

part 4

n the summer of 2020, several highly publicized cases of police brutality ending in the death of unarmed black citizens led to mass protests around the world. I attended several peaceful protests in the Lehigh Valley. During one of these protests, I witnessed the police attempt to detain a young black male for being disruptive. Representatives from the local chapter of the NAACP stepped in and were able to prevent an arrest from occurring, but the incident left many of us feeling uneasy, angry, and ashamed.

I am 20 years old, and I have just moved out of my father’s house in the suburbs of Macungie and into a townhouse in downtown Bethlehem with my boyfriend and two of his friends. I am awoken in the middle of the night by my boyfriend tossing and turning violently. I shake him awake and ask what’s wrong. He has tears in his eyes as he explains that he was having a nightmare about his time in jail, specifically the week he spent in solitary confinement after a corrections officer found Seroquel in the cell he shared with three other inmates. For a moment, he believed he was back in solitary confinement and that he would never again be free. He explains that he has nightmares like this often and smokes marijuana in order to sleep through the night. As the years pass, I learn more and more about his time in jail and how it has negatively affected his mental and physical health. This man spent several months in jail and an additional year and a half on parole after a police officer searched his vehicle and found half an ounce of marijuana, a few plastic bags, and a scale. This search was conducted because the officer claimed he could smell marijuana.

fourth part in a series . . .

Latest in a series of posts on City Government

Latest in a series of posts on the pedestrian bridge

City Council votes on providing funds for a feasibility study of a pedestrian/biking bridge tonight. Gadfly encourages you to back this study before Council votes by emailing Council members by noon today if possible or whenever you can today (Clerks@bethlehem-pa.gov) and/or by calling in to the meeting during public comment (see instructions here).

Mansion Bridge, Jim Thorpe
photo credit, Dana Grubb

Dear President Waldron and Members of Council,

I’ve had mixed feelings about this project from the start mainly because I feel both the City and PennDOT missed a huge opportunity to include this feature on the Fahy Bridge when the bridge was refurbished 2-3 years ago. In my view that was a perfect opportunity for an improved pedestrian-biking crossover between the north and south sides of Bethlehem.

That being said, as the City’s former grants administrator I believe that leveraging $40,000 of city funds to gain an additional $100,000 from outside sources is wise. Yes, in total it is all considered public funding, but this is the type of leveraging that is smart business for Bethlehem.

Should Bethlehem build the bridge that this study will address is a question for a future date. However, a number of cities across the country have been able to achieve these kinds of community improvements, so why not examine the possibilities through completion of this study?

I believe City Council should advance this study so that the question can be analyzed and recommendations can be reviewed. Then, and only then, can the heavy lifting of designing and constructing a pedestrian bicycling bridge be the topic for further consideration. As a frequent cyclist on the D&L Trail near the Jim Thorpe area, I will tell you that construction of the Mansion Bridge, for pedestrian and bicycling use across the Lehigh River, has been a major boon for tourism in the Jim Thorpe area and is used heavily. The first anniversary of its completion was recently celebrated and I attended. I would suggest Members of Council make a visit to see how something like this can be benefit a community.

Thank you,
Dana Grubb

———-

Supporting the study:

ref: Interviews with design firms yield new insights into the utility and value of a pedestrian/biking bridge across the Lehigh
ref: Add your name to the many organizations endorsing the pedestrian/biking bridge feasibility study
ref: A pedestrian/biking bridge: “The possible is a big deal”
ref: Gadfly “talks” bridges with Councilman Callahan
ref: One cyclist hurt, one killed
ref: Act Now!

Against public funding:
ref: Let’s fund the study and the bridge privately

Against the study:
ref: A better use for the pedestrian/bike bridge money?

City Council votes on providing funds for a feasibility study of a pedestrian/biking bridge tonight. Gadfly encourages you to back this study before Council votes by emailing Council members by noon today if possible or whenever you can today (Clerks@bethlehem-pa.gov) and/or by calling in to the meeting during public comment (see instructions here).

“It is a time to focus on healing and unity in our community.”

BIG was formed in 2017 when diverse local faith leaders recognized the importance of fostering dialogue and seeking common ground.

—

BIG speaks the Gadfly language of community.

Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem

The Hidden Seed: Bethlehem’s Forgotten Utopia

Gadfly saw the play The Hidden Seed again last night. Did he “see” any of you there as well?

Here’s a short clip of the play’s –as it were — theme song as the play ended.

Gadfly wishes he had a better recording of it and a recording of the three main characters singing it during the body of the play.

Bethlehem needs a theme song.

Do we have one?

Latest in a series of posts on the City Budget

Mayor Robert Donchez 2021 Budget Address

View the Mayor’s 2021 Proposed Budget

First meeting on the 2021 budget, November 9

The first hearing on the City’s proposed 2021 budget was held in front of City Council last night. It was 4 1/2 hours.

No doubt going too long for the press to have a handy overview story for us this morning.

On deck for discussion were the Fire Department, the Department of Community and Economic Development, and the Police Department.

Budget meetings can be yawners.

Surprising to Gadfly, 30-some YouTube viewers stayed for the full ride. (However, as of this morning there were 200+ views.)

It’s the Year of the Pandemic; remember. revenues are down.

The Fates were not kind to Mayor Donchez as his two terms wind to a close.

And there is also a matter of increased pension obligations, which, frankly, Gadfly is not clear on and needs some schooling about.

But the reality is “Bethlehem’s pension payments will increase by over one million dollars next year.”

Cuts in such a situation of lessened revenue and increased costs are necessary.

The Mayor is proposing a total budget $87.4m (it was $80.2m last year) and a 5% tax increase, which translates into an increase to the average homeowner of $46.

Personnel costs are always the big ticket item in a budget.

Who in last night’s deliberations is the Mayor proposing to cut?

4 firefighters and 2 Service Center positions.

The Fire Department would move from 110 to 106 firefighters, and the Service Center would run on 13 not 15 employees in the Mayor’s plan.

Firefighter Union head Bryan Bokan called in to strongly refute the Fire Chief’s presentation that the cuts would not impair service or safety (see video, beginning min. 3:50). Bokan presented some different facts about staffing, said that morale in the department is “terrible,” said that the Union was denied a sit-down to discuss cost savings without cutting personnel, and said he was told that the cuts will not be restored when the economy turns around.

So here’s one issue for us to think about. Recognizing that budget cuts will have to be made this year, should firefighters be cut? Several Council members probed that, as well they should, for this is a matter of public safety. Councilman Callahan, for instance, said no.

But another, related issue arose.

The Police Department — remember that Police Departments in this post-GeorgeFloyd era are being scrutinized around the country — escaped with its 154 member workforce intact, and its proposed budget remains around 20% of the total city budget.

These were facts not lost on a series of callers at the end of the meeting who favored re-imagining public safety (one used the dreaded because it is misunderstood “d” word: defunding) in ways that have been aired here on the blog.

In effect, the callers were pointing out how protected the police department is. Same-old, same-old.

Gadfly followers can imagine that the portion of the meeting on the police department was the one that most interested him, and he will spend considerable time on it once he gets through his focus on the Walter Wallace incident that is now up to 8 posts.

For now, though, you should be thinking about whether the fire department should eat personnel cuts and the police department not.

There are three more budget hearings, and the final budget will be voted on at City Council December 15.

———–

Selections from Sarah Cassi, “Head of Bethlehem firefighters’ union: Proposed cuts ‘atrocious act’ that must not be tolerated.” leheighvalleylive.com. November 9, 2020.

The Bethlehem firefighters’ union is used to fighting flames and smoke, but its president is now fighting proposed staff cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez last week unveiled his proposed 2021 budget, which includes a 5% tax increase and cutting six city jobs through attrition: four firefighters and two Bethlehem Service Center employees.

On Monday, Bryan Bokan, president of Local 735 Bethlehem Firefighters, posted an open plea on Facebook to Bethlehem residents.

Bokan expressed frustration after meetings with Donchez and Chief Warren Achey, saying the union members offered to make any other cuts so as not to lose personnel.

“We told them right out we understood there would be cuts coming,” Bokan said Monday afternoon. “There’s so much in the budget that we could work with … we asked them to give us a number and we will do everything we can to get to that number.”

But Bokan said they were never given a targeted figure, and they were never given the chance to compromise or even discuss alternative measures with the city.

 “Every firefighter serving the city knows what an impact this pandemic has had on the city, including its families, friends, patients, citizens we serve, and every firefighter is willing to sacrifice and compromise to keep the city as safe as possible,” Bokan posted.

The fire department would have 106 firefighters if the current cuts are approved. Bokan said he asked city officials if the positions would be refilled when the economy rebounds, but was told staffing would stay 106 firefighters.

“This atrocious act must not and will not be tolerated,” he wrote in the open plea on Facebook.

 “We truly need your support in standing up to the Mayor and Fire Chief who have grown further from the realism that Bethlehem needs its first responders and that the Lehigh Valley is one of the only areas in Pennsylvania still growing. They want to make the city less safe, they would like to make the men and women who protect the structures in which they live, less safe,” Bokan wrote.

There are three more budget hearings, and the final budget will be voted on at City Council December 15.

Latest in a series of posts about the death of Walter Wallace

The subject’s name was Walter Wallace.

The Wallace family lawyer — a “Swat-trained member of the police department” — makes the case for the inapplicability of the training the officers had for this situation: “They teach you to kill . . . They train you to be an assassin when the time calls for it. You have to use your discernment to figure out what that time is. It was not this time.” (5 mins.)

Selections from MaryClaire Dale, “Wallace family calls for firing of officers, police reforms.” Associated Press, November 6, 2020.

The family of Walter Wallace Jr. called Friday for the officers who fatally shot the young Black man to be fired and asked that some of the city’s more than $700 million police budget be diverted to mental health services.

Lawyer Shaka Johnson spoke for the family at a City Hall news conference a day before Saturday’s planned funeral for Wallace, a 27-year-old father of nine who had been receiving mental health services.

Johnson called for the city to divert some of its police budget to a separate hotline that families could call to get trained professionals, instead of armed officers, to respond to mental health crises.

He also noted that city voters in Tuesday’s election approved a ballot measure to create a citizen oversight panel for the police department.